This invention is directed to a device for monitoring temperature within a refrigerator, and more particularly for monitoring the conditions within a refrigerator and notifying a user if the food has fallen into the danger zone for refrigerated foods.
In this day and age, refrigerators for both private and commercial use have become ubiquitous. They come in all sizes, all shapes and can be found everywhere from restaurants, to places of work, to personal homes, including outside of the kitchen, such as basements, wet bars, recreation rooms, garages and the like. Almost all foods are stored in a refrigerator at one time or another.
However, refrigerators are subject to breakage, brownouts, blackouts and the like. Brownouts occur in many areas on almost a weekly basis. For this reason, by way of example, it is known to back up computers at the workplace with uninterrupted power sources. Such secondary systems are usually not available for refrigerators, therefore, if in fact power is lost or diminished while a refrigerator user is away from the refrigerator, and power is restored, there is no way to determine that a diminution in the operation of the refrigerator has even occurred, or to what extent the loss of refrigeration may have damaged any foods therein.
By way of example, the Florida Restaurant Association has determined that whenever the temperature of a food subject to spoilage falls between 40° Fahrenheit and 140° Fahrenheit (5° Celsius and 60° Celsius) food is considered to be within the “danger zone”. The Florida Restaurant Association has also determined that foods cannot remain for more than four hours in the danger zone before they are no loner safe for consumption. As discussed above, many times, such as when a restaurant is closed for a day or in the domestic situation the homeowner is away for many days, there is no way to determine whether food within the refrigerator has been placed in the danger zone.
Even where there is no brownout, it is not apparent, particularly to homeowners not extremely knowledgeable in food preparation, or maintenance to determine, whether the temperature in the refrigerator is in fact sufficient to maintain the food outside of the danger zone. The longer the food is in the danger zone, the more likely that products such as milk, fish or poultry will grow dangerous bacteria. Typically, someone at home only realizes that food is unsafe for consumption after it is consumed.
If food has been exposed to the danger zone for a prolonged period of time, it is subject to spoilage. One way of being able to tell if a food is spoiled is by odor. However, food may spoil or become unhealthy before an odor is created. In many cases, the odor is not significant enough to raise suspicion regarding the food. Many times, spoiled food may have a spoiled taste. However, in the early stages of spoilage, taste may not be sufficient, or may be masked by other ingredients, as evidenced by the number of cases of food poisoning reported each year. Taste and smell are not sufficient to warn food consumers that food may be unhealthy. The longer the food is in the danger zone, the more likely unhealthy bacteria will grow. However, bacteria growth may be sufficient to be unhealthy to food eaters, but may not be sufficient to provide an odor or a taste to warn the eater of spoilage.
Therefore, a device for determining the existence of the danger zone and the cumulative exposure to the danger zone and notifying the refrigerator user is desired.